Dollars and Sense?

Question

What sense is there in paying a teacher 27,000.00 a year for 10 yrs and a baseball player in the same time span, a quarter of a billion dollars.

Answer 1

Because the ballplayer is among the very best in the world at what he does, and people/fans are willing to pony up munny in order to watch him perform.

Whereas Mr. Jones might be one of the best math teachers in the world, but no one is lining up to watch him differentiate or explain cosines on the blackboard.

Answer 2

Good point. They work about the same amount of time and teachers do more *work*. A baseball player only has to be on the field playing for about 3 hours while a teacher is stuck for 8 hours and sometimes works extra. Schools dont have as much income as baseball does though so baseball is able to pay more. Teachers money comes from tax money. Baseball players money comes from fans who spend about $50 for a ticket and more depending on the seat location. Just times that by about 50,000 and thats why they are able to paid much more then teachers. Baseball players are demanding more money now and will most of the time turn down an offer if its *not high enough*.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, this is a question of economic principle more than a true value of worth. Obviously teachers are more important in the grand scheme of things, however based on the money that is flowing in MLB (or other pro sports) compared to that of say...high school teachers, the supply and demand forces are at work. At any given time, there are at least thousands of high school teachers employed in the United States. At any given time, there are only, at most, 1200 players in the MLB (40 players on 30 teams). Take the revenues generated by all thirty teams just in ticket sales. Add in the revenues generated by merchandising, televisions deals, advertising rights, the list goes on. Divide that out by thirty teams. The average salary of a MLB player might be astronomically higher than the average salary of a high school teacher, but because there are so few MLB players and we are so willing to shell out $30 per seat to watch a game. $20 per hat, $35 for a t-shirt, $80 for a sweatshirt, $50-$200 for a uniform shirt....Maybe if teachers weren't unionized and would be rewarded for results instead of length of service, the market would shift and the better the teacher, the better they would get paid.

Answer 4

Sense

Answer 5

because baseball players are funded privately and sponsorship deals etc make that happen

Maybe someone should start selling advertising rights for school uniforms and then the teachers may get a payrise...

Answer 6

cuz baseball players are cooler